1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an optical disc drive, and more particularly to an optical disc drive to prevent entry of dust through a tray that carries a disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, optical disc drives indicate apparatuses that record and reproduce data by projecting a light beam on a recording medium having a disc form, such as a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and a BD (Blue-ray Disc). The recording medium will be referred to merely as a ‘disc’ hereinbelow.
The optical disc drive includes a housing constituting an exterior of the optical disc drive, and a tray loaded to and unloaded from an inside of the housing. A disc seating surface is formed on an upper surface of the tray to seat the disc thereon. The disc is carried into the housing, as seated on the disc seating surface. The housing includes a deck assembly mounted therein. The deck assembly includes a spindle motor for rotating the disc carried into the housing, and an optical pickup device to record and reproduce data by projecting a light beam onto the rotating disc.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an exterior of a conventional optical disc drive.
Referring to FIG. 1, an opening 3 is formed on a front of a housing 1 to insert a tray 2 therethrough. A front plate 4 in a plate form is provided to a front end of the tray 2. Here, the front plate 4 is formed to have a larger area than the opening 3. When the tray 2 is loaded into the housing 2, the front plate 4 covers the opening 3, thereby hermetically closing an inside of the housing 1.
In the state where the front plate 4 covers the opening 3, however, a gap exists between the front plate 4 and a front side of the housing 1, allowing entry of dust into the housing 1. Dust that entered the housing 1 may affect an operation of the optical disc drive. For example, when dust is attached to an object lens of the optical disc drive, reading and recording of data with the disc may not be correctly performed.
To solve this problem, an elastic member 5 has been used to remove the gap between the front plate 4 and the front side of the housing 1 by being inserted in the gap. Elastically contracted and expanded materials, such as sponge or padding, are used for the elastic member 5. The elastic member 5 is attached to the front side of the housing 1 along an outline of the opening 3. When the tray 2 is loaded into the housing 1, the front plate 4 is brought into tight contact with the elastic member 5, thereby sealing the gap between the front plate 4 and the front side of the housing 1. According to this, entry of dust into the housing 1 can be prevented. Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 10-21679 relates to an optical disc drive preventing entry of dust by using such an elastic member.
However, adoption of the elastic member 5 like the sponge or padding, attached to the front side of the housing 1 to prevent entry of dust, bears some problems. The dedicated material for the elastic member 5 causes an increase of the material cost. Furthermore, by adding a manufacturing process for attaching the elastic material 5 to the front side of the housing 1, productivity of the optical disc drive is deteriorated.